The 2024 BFI London Film Festival has revealed a strong line-up of speakers and events at its Industry Forum.
The festival is set to run from October 10-16 at the Picturehouse Central cinema in central London, and the festival’s industry arm is headlined by three “LFF Spotlight” talks with Working Title Films co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (whose current output includes Steve McQueen’s festival-opening film Blitz), Searchlight’s head of international production and development Katie Goodson-Thomas, and Apple TV+’s creative director for Europe – and BFI chairman – Guy Hunt.
elsewhere, diverse Hosted by Johnny Byrne, the award-winning sound designer whose long list of credits includes a long collaborative partnership with Yorgos Lanthimos (including last year's “Poor Things”) and “The Zone of Interest,” for which he won an Oscar.
Other events include discussions with documentary filmmakers Cecil Embleton (“Mother Vera”), Manon Ouimet and Jakob Perlmutter (“Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other”) and the team behind The Last Swim, including co-writer/director Sacha Nathwani, cinematographer Olan Kolardi, co-writer/producer Helen Simmons and producers Campbell Beaton and Nisha Mulia. Meanwhile, four panel discussions will explore the themes of changing global markets, original stories, adaptations and remakes, film and TV work across the UK and marketing independent film with teams of sales agents, producers, emerging writers and marketing specialists respectively.
“We are excited about this year’s line-up of events at our industry forum and are hugely grateful to the incredible talent and speakers for so generously sharing their knowledge and expertise,” said Kristy Mathieson, Director of the London Film Festival. “Working and learning together is increasingly vital in our evolving industry as we look to forge new connections for collaboration and storytelling.”
Alongside the diverse talks, there are also numerous networking events for creators, producers, buyers and sellers, as well as a showcase of works in progress and a Masterclass series for emerging UK talent.
“This year’s industry programme of talks and events aims to provide insight and inspiration,” said Silvia Angrisani, the festival’s industry programme director. “We welcome conversations with writers, directors, producers, financiers and sound designers as well as international sales and marketing businesses, addressing questions about how to balance creativity and risk. Our sessions will give delegates the opportunity to be in the room and hear from international industry leaders as well as new voices. In addition, our networking and business meetings will foster international collaboration and we hope to create an informal and warm environment in which to discover new talent and new partners, both locally and internationally.”
